Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren boglebam here. At the time of this recording,
Speaker 1: people the world over are practicing social distancing and staying
Speaker 1: home to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus,
Speaker 1: and for more on that check out our recent episodes.
Speaker 1: But there are all kinds of reasons why human people
Speaker 1: sometimes can't get out to experience various cultural sites around
Speaker 1: the globe, and some of those cultural sites are bringing
Speaker 1: their stuff to you. For example, these Mathsonian Institutions in Washington,
Speaker 1: d C. Which includes a group of museums and research
Speaker 1: centers run by the American government. One of those is
Speaker 1: the Venerable National Museum of Natural History, which features exhibits
Speaker 1: that tell the history of the planet and human interaction
Speaker 1: with the environment. The museum boasts about a hundred and
Speaker 1: forty five million artifacts, objects, artworks, and specimens, most of
Speaker 1: which you can visit via a three hundred sixty degree
Speaker 1: room by room video tour. The lets you immerse yourself
Speaker 1: in the museum and virtually walk through its halls. After
Speaker 1: you cruise through the permanent exhibits, check out past ones
Speaker 1: in the archive that are no longer offered in person,
Speaker 1: such as the former Fossil Hall, which includes tons of
Speaker 1: massive dinosaurs. Then there's a sea otter cam at California's
Speaker 1: Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's a good brain bomb at any
Speaker 1: time of year, but it's a particularly potent one right now.
Speaker 1: Typically you'll see the aquariums permanent residents Abbey, Ivy, kit Rosa,
Speaker 1: and Selka as they float around on their backs and
Speaker 1: get sassy during feeding times. But because the aquarium is
Speaker 1: currently closed, see otter cams trained on a group of
Speaker 1: wild rescued pups who have previously never been put on
Speaker 1: display because human attention would make them uncomfortable. Keep your
Speaker 1: eyes peeled for special guest stars Kit and Ivy. They're
Speaker 1: surrogate mothers for the young pups until they're ready to
Speaker 1: be returned to the sea, and be sure to check
Speaker 1: out the aquariums other cams. There are ten in total.
Speaker 1: If you've ever wanted to visit the Great Wall of
Speaker 1: Chin in a a tour company called The China Guide
Speaker 1: wants to help you out. They've put up a three
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty degree video of a particularly scenic section
Speaker 1: of the wall that normally takes about three to four
Speaker 1: hours to hike in person. They know it well because
Speaker 1: they run real life guided trips. Two sections of the
Speaker 1: walls more than three thousand miles or forty eight hundred kilometers,
Speaker 1: something to keep in mind for the future. Another stunning
Speaker 1: place to visit digitally the Palace of Versailles, created for
Speaker 1: Louis the fourteenth then what was basically his own exorbitant
Speaker 1: celebration of himself. France's Palace of Versailles is one of
Speaker 1: the most lavish constructions ever built. The virtual tour encompasses
Speaker 1: everything from the sparkling interiors to the sprawling gardens. You
Speaker 1: can explore the king's bed chambers and the famous Hall
Speaker 1: of Mirrors while you learn some of the fascinating details
Speaker 1: of the palace's rich history, like the fact that the
Speaker 1: smell of the gardens flowers was once so overpowering that
Speaker 1: it deterred guests from visiting. Don't miss the massive section
Speaker 1: on science to learn how Versailles was the most testing
Speaker 1: ground for researchers from nine. Of course, visual wonders aren't
Speaker 1: the only ones to check out. Musicians from novices to
Speaker 1: pros are posting live music to Twitter and Instagram with
Speaker 1: the hashtag songs of comfort. In his first post with
Speaker 1: the hashtag, American cellist Yoyama said, in these days of anxiety,
Speaker 1: I wanted to find a way to continue to share
Speaker 1: some of the music that gives me comfort. It's a
Speaker 1: fitting description for the project, which so far features a
Speaker 1: handful of short, calming cello solos and a guest appearance
Speaker 1: by literary historian Stephen Greenblatt. To read some Shakespeare, or
Speaker 1: for exploration on a slightly different scale, check out the
Speaker 1: Discoveries and Control Center of the Hubble Telescope. It's been
Speaker 1: hanging out in Earth's orbit for about two decades now,
Speaker 1: documenting outer space and fueling impressive discoveries that have allowed
Speaker 1: scientists to reevaluate some of the math that informs our
Speaker 1: understanding of everything, such as the expansion rate and age
Speaker 1: of the universe. You can explore far away side it's
Speaker 1: like the Irian Nebula, Eagle Nebula and Karina Nebula and
Speaker 1: go on a three hundred and sixty degree tour of
Speaker 1: the telescope's earthbound control center, mission operations room, and Operations
Speaker 1: support room to see how this magnificent research tool is
Speaker 1: maneuvered from afar. Also more close by, there's the Grammy Museum,
Speaker 1: the California based nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the history and
Speaker 1: significance of music. It's unveiling previously unreleased content from its
Speaker 1: archives and making it available to the public on its website.
Speaker 1: A new online only digital exhibits, such as X forty
Speaker 1: Years of Punk in Los Angeles, will be released every Friday.
Speaker 1: In South Korea, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary
Speaker 1: Art has four branches throughout the country that each take
Speaker 1: a slightly different approach to exploring South Korean contemporary art
Speaker 1: and culture. The online extension of the museum let's you
Speaker 1: view specific exhibits and tour the ultramodern space, or for
Speaker 1: something a bit more classical, you can check out the Louver.
Speaker 1: A few of the current virtual exhibits from this Paris
Speaker 1: music am include a collection of Egyptian antiquities, the remains
Speaker 1: of the Louver's mote the structure is a former fortress
Speaker 1: after all, and a recently restored gallery that features paintings
Speaker 1: by Delacroix. But take note, some fan favorites, like the
Speaker 1: Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo are currently only available
Speaker 1: to view in real life, though We're holding out hope
Speaker 1: that one of the silver linings of the COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: pandemic will be that many cultural institutions will get serious
Speaker 1: about making their beautiful educational works available for everyone everywhere
Speaker 1: that they can get an Internet connection. Today's episode was
Speaker 1: written by Carrie Dennis and produced by Tyler Clang. A
Speaker 1: quick search should turn up websites for all of these
Speaker 1: virtual tours and exhibits, but for direct links, check out
Speaker 1: the article version of this episode titled nine cultural activities
Speaker 1: you can experience virtually on how Stuff Works dot com.
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